


Prim and Proper

by Veritech_Fighter_Girl



Series: Family Ties [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Family Feels, Fantasy, Magic, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-03-22 06:58:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13758726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veritech_Fighter_Girl/pseuds/Veritech_Fighter_Girl
Summary: Lyla is a merchant in the town of Thexis, a port in the nation of Prim. Her family is the most precious thing in the world to her and will do anything to keep them safe. However, the great Yaw apparently has different plans. Thrust into political intruge and a role she wants nothing to do with, Lyla has to keep on her toes. One wrong move could destroy all that she wants to protect.





	1. I Come Home

     “Welcome home. I hope your adventures have been successful?”  
“Dear father, you know they did. Can you not smell the spices?” I grinned at the stooping man who reached his hand out to me. He smiled back. “The winds were favorable and my accent is getting better.”  
“Oh really? Well I hope speaking that tongue hasn’t made your Prim weak.” His voice had a humor to it.  
“Don’t worry, Varius was sure to curse me out in our native language when I showed up about a week before all of the other traders. I believe his exact words were -”  
“Now which Varius was that? The loud one or the one who owns the inn?” The old man gestured in a seemingly normal way towards the dock, but I understood he was trying to make sure I saw the Order there and that cursing was probably not a favorable choice at the moment.  
“Old man Guin, is your memory so gone that you can’t remember that Varius the Loud left his brother Varius the Innkeeper?” I watched over my crew unloading the precious cargo with great care. It’s not that I didn’t trust them, but the Order was there, so I needed to be “supervising”  
“Is that what happened?”  
“No, they are the same person, I just wanted to mess with you. Varius just has two different personas, remember? Watch out!” One of the new boys slipped on the gangplank and almost dropped the bag he was carrying. I scooped it up from his arms right before he fell into the water. “Watch it Morris! This costs more than your hide, and I once met people interested in human flesh as freckled as yours! Now get out of that water and go into town to see your beau, if she still is here.”  
“Yes Ma’am!” And off he went. Scurrying like a little lizard. Poor boy, soon enough he would learn that the sea often makes people forget, even when we just left a little under six months ago.

     I looked at the spices in my arms, it was a container of salt. I walked down to the dock and handed it to another crew member, Ian.  
“Get that to the shop and open up for business. I’ll be down in a second. Until then, nobody except Dorian speaks to customers, got it?”  
“That’s worth more than the boy, so careless, now when I was in charge of this company-”  
“When you were in charge father, you only had two rundown ships to your name and no contracts with anybody of reasonable reputation.” He thought about that for a moment.  
“And now thanks to you, my sweet Lyla, I am a rich old man.”  
“Yes and you should be content to let me run the company as I see fit. That boy is of relation of Varius. His freckled back got us into the inn when there was no more room. Shame he never got his sea legs.” I glanced around to see if the Order had left, but they were still lurking around. They seemed to be interested in another ship, but were glancing at me too. I wasn’t in the mood to be questioned right at that moment.  
“Maybe his girl will make him settle down and stay to become a carpenter or something.”  
“Or something,” I muttered. “And now, after this triumphant reunion where are my adoring siblings to hug me and tell me how much they missed me?” Father rolled his eyes.  
“They are at home, attending to their studies. Go sell your spices and wash up and then you can see them. I’ll meet you there, you seem to have company.” He turned away to go home, but not before I saw his expression darken. Oh boy, that would be the Order, ready to question me.  
“Let’s keep this short cause I have valuable goods to trade to help out our wonderful Empire.”  
“Of course Merchant Lyla.” The main questioner stepped to the side. “If you will join our company.”

     The Order popped up after the last Emperor and his family all died in the last plague and his brother, the current Emperor Tane, came into power. We had some sort of authority before that, but I honestly don’t remember. I was very young when the change happened. The Order took over everything, the universities, military, religion, and government administrators. They did this because of how devastating the last plague was and devoted their lives to preventing another one. If the last Emperor hadn’t died of natural causes, then everyone would have suspected Tane of a coup and the Order were just his henchmen. But he did die of natural causes and Tane, from what I can tell, doesn’t actually really like the Order. Or at least he looks as uncomfortable as the rest of us do whenever he sees them.  
“So Merchant Lyla, how was your trip?”  
“Successful and it will be more successful if this goes quickly.”  
“We understand, we just have to ask a few questions. It’s protocol. You left six months ago yes?”  
“Actually a little less than that.”  
“Really? But didn’t you go to Quin?” The Order members looked nervously at me. Part of the way they prevented disease was through long travels to anywhere by sea. Or at least that’s what they told us, but I also knew what would please them, the truth of my journey.  
“Yes but after the last melt, we found a new path through the ice, cutting off about three weeks overall from our trip. We didn’t pack enough furs and some of our crew suffered.” The cold killed the disease as well, so I’m in the clear.  
“Well that is good to hear. A couple more questions. Did you pick up any crew in Quin?”  
“No. And we did a thorough pest killing every three days of our journey. We had poison and tossed the dead bodies into the fire. Our physician will have written his report by now.” I was starting to get antsy. My crew can sell the spices fine by themselves, but I feel better when I am there.  
“That sounds amazing Merchant Lyla. We appreciate your cooperation to save our nation. We will read the physician’s report and if you really did far above the requirements, then you should have your ship back in no time. Ever in His sight.”  
“Ever in His sight.” I repeat and then I am left by myself standing on the dock. I take a glance around myself. Damn His sight. If I kept getting checked every time my ships came into the dock, I would be behind other merchants, no matter how many short cuts I found. I take one more glance around before heading to my shop in the market.

     One more advantage I have over the other merchants is that I keep my own stall in the market. The others keep selling from their ships, not seeing the outrageous prices their spices are going for. Normally I wouldn’t be so concerned about my haul, but our chief seller is out of town due to a marriage. “It’s not like he needs privacy, those two were already living together and were the hot gossip for the year they weren’t married,” I muttered under my breath. A little ways past the dock I took a left into the market. It wasn’t that busy, people hadn’t gotten whiff that I had returned yet, but there was a little bit of commotion by my stall. I walked down the back alley and turned into my shop only to be greeted by a downtrodden Morris.  
“They all are arguing,” he sighed.  
“About what? We just got off the ship. The longer they bicker the longer they don’t return home. When I get my hands on them…”  
“Well apparently there was a betting pool about me and Anaya.” There was and I was in it, but I think I may have just lost some money. “There were the people who thought she would wait, those who thought she would get married and those who thought I was so anxious to get back to her cause I...um….” He started turning red.  
“Well out with it! I need to know what happened before I start taking sides on this fight!” He still wouldn’t come out with it.  
“Boy if you don’t tell me right now what happened I am going to take to the streets with your skinned hide waving it around as a cautionary tale for all who-”  
“There is a baby!” He shouted. “But we um...don’t know if it’s mine. I think that’s what they are arguing about. She got married and the babe came out very small but the doctors weren’t sure if it was because she was a small baby or because she was premature. Her parents said it was probably premature because apparently Anaya was early but -”  
“Alright. Come out here boy, I need to settle this or we will never sell these spices.”I interrupted. He followed me out into the front of the shop, dragging like a sad little pup. “STOP IT!” Immediately the fighting stopped. “Now this young man hasn’t finished his story yet and I want all of us to listen.” Morris turned brighter red.  
“Ma’am, what more do I need to say,” he said in a very soft voice.  
“Well, why is there this confusion? Did she have the babe yesterday?”  
“No, but her parents don’t have the funds for a true test to be done by the Order and they don’t want to. She married the butcher, not me.”  
“Hm. A difficult predicament. However, you and this girl were together about four months before we left right? Did you happen to...” He nodded. “And the child is still alive yes?” Again a nod. “And with some inquiry you can find out if the child was born premature. The doctors know well enough to say but perhaps didn’t realize there was another potential father. Then you can take that information to the town hall and lay your claim to the child and be reunited with your girl. I am sure that the doctors weren’t informed of your activity with this young woman, so that will answer some questions they have about this situation,” I announced. There was a groan from my crew. “Now Dorius, if you would be so kind as to pick up my winnings then we can get back to what we are here for. Also send out some boys to announce our arrival! We have barely any business!”

     Dorius handed me my money while Morris looked at me with shock in his eyes.  
“You knew. How did you?”  
“I’ve been no stranger to the sea and those lost to it. Here, take half of these and go get a new set of clothes and wash up, you reek. Then tomorrow, we’ll spend the rest of the money on a test, go to the court and all will be right. The Order may be a pain, but they want justice. Once they know you came home and that you are most likely the father, they will want to bring a family together. Plus going to them will prevent the butcher from charging you outrageous prices for stealing his wife.” He stared at the gold in my hand and then back at me. “Take it before I revoke my offer!” And off he scampered. Not a lizard I decided, but a love sick puppy. Dorius laughed.  
“I don’t know why they even bother anymore, you always get it right,” he said.  
“Well maybe my crew isn’t heartless and they also know that that pool would help raise that baby. He won’t be a sailor anymore, thats for sure. Maybe the court will try and make him a butcher’s apprentice to try and even out the situation.” I sighed. “Now I have to find another crew member. How much stock to we have left?”  
“A good majority. If only Tib hadn’t gotten married.”  
“I know! If only I didn’t get stopped every time we docked and our ships didn’t get disease held for two weeks during the best season; if only, if only.” My thoughts were interrupted by a screech.  
“LYLA! Lyla!”  
“Please tell me it isn’t who I think that is. If that is Tib I might just kiss him, no matter what his preference is,” I said.  
“Well put your best kissing face on Ma’am, cause it is indeed our very own seller and his husband in tow,” Darius replied.  
“LYla why didn’t you tell me you were coming in today? I had to hear it from your old man Guin!” Tiberius, also known as Tib, was running through the market waving frantically.  
“I didn’t want to interrupt you. You did get married while I was gone remember?”  
“Speaking of that, what did you say about a present?” Tib was impertinent as always, but a cunning businessman, the only one in the city I would trust to sell my spices at a reasonable price. He always loved new things and was spending all of his wages I gave him on the newest research or toy from another country. His husband, Soewin was far more subdued and practical. He was a tattooist, a very sound profession in our town.  
“You elope you don’t get presents, that’s what I said. But since I love Soewin more than words can imagine, here.” I pulled out two packages. “And technically they aren’t presents, they are tools for work.” Tib laughed and Soewin started to unwrap them. “For Tib, a set of diamond balanced scales, the most accurate money can buy. No more slight imbalance complaints from you. And for Soewin, some of the finest silk and ink. In Quin, they use the silk somehow in making tatoos. They wouldn’t tell me their secrets and I thought you would like to experiment with that. And now, I'm off to the baths and then home. Talk to me when all of this is sold, and by talk I mean send a messenger.” I got hugged by Tib, shook hands with Soewin and told the rest of my crew to spread the word that we were back. Since Tib was back, I was no longer needed to supervise the sales, and I left for the baths for a little rest before heading home.

     The baths were steaming and so refreshing. While life at sea is wonderful, very few things can beat the feeling of coming out of a bath completely clean. Plus its a great place to catch up on the gossip. Apparently Morris’s girl had been adamant that it was his child, but her parents literally locked her up to keep her quiet. More ships left this season than normal, my completion wasn't too keen on my hogging all the business by leaving and returning earlier than they did. There had been an unusual amount of child deaths, despite the Order being more present than ever. None were plague caused, but still the amount of taxes they pour into healthcare would warrant a better survival rate. And some unusual animal activity, wolves and bears coming down to the market at night to eat the scraps. Our land had a relative lack of beggars so our scraps often stayed in the trash. The usual about the possibility that some of the old royal family survived and the concern that our local lord, Lord Barian doesn't have an heir. “You know I heard he was going to pick a merchant after the trading season,” Kailee the innkeeper’s wife whispered to me.  
“You've been saying that for the last three seasons Kailee. I don't think that's what will happen. More than likely some noble with Order ties will get the lordship.”  
“And why would they do that? They know our people are loyal to one thing, the sea. The Order doesn’t care for it like we do! Shouldn’t one of our own be in charge?” Kailee asked. I washed my hair to give me a little time before answering.  
“I’m not arguing with you, but it’s not the way things are. Plus Lord Barian is as strong as a shark, he will rule as he always has until he is one hundred and ten.”  
“Well he should have settled down so we wouldn’t have to worry about all of this!” Kailee argued. She just wanted to talk to someone who was “out of the loop” and tell them her grand ideas. If I hadn’t have just finished the argument about the betting pool, I would have been far more inclined to listen. Her husband, Gerick bought a lot of spices but we were on friendly enough terms that if I snubbed his wife a couple of times he wouldn’t be offended.  
“Kailee you know I would love to stay and chat but I need to leave. I have matters at home to attend to,” I said. I pulled myself out of the baths and dried myself off with a relatively clean cloth. Then I found my clothes, which were washed and dried by the magnificent staff, got dressed and headed home.

     Most of the time I call a carriage from the baths, but that day I wanted to walk through the town. Thexis wasn’t the largest port city in our nation of Prim, but it was the cleanest. Lord Barian had done an excellent job in investing in private merchants, like my family and supporting them. They would pay more taxes and would provide more jobs, essentially cleaning up the streets of people. Then he invested wisely with that new tax revenue into public works, like libraries (and baths) and bringing in more Order folks to be doctors, judges, priests and teachers. This kept the children off of the streets too, and teaching them to become better sailors who would create more trade with places like Quin, to the East, Ryst to the South, the Islands of Yti to the West, and the rest of our country. We lived on a sliver of land that extruded out of the country of Prim, and going around by caravan was impractical. No child could grow up here and not live with the sea. It was a part of you like your toes. You grew up training your sea legs, practicing knots and learning how to read the waves. I came here when I was eight, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I remember the first time I saw the city. It was a dark night and the moon was just a sliver. The city looked like a light at the end of a very long tunnel. Looking down from the upper plains, Thexis looks like a jewel on the beach. It glistens in the day or night, and that isn’t just sentiment from the townsfolk. Thexis has always been considered one of the most beautiful places in Prim. And right after I thought that, I came upon my home, and I ran to the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I've had this idea bumming around in my head for a long, long time. It's kind of a combination of several book series I would have liked to write but am honestly too lazy. Plus I'm in college and working outside of class. Please be patient with me. I don't know when or how often this will be updated. Right now, probably every two weeks. Also, I am omitting some physical descriptions for a reason. I personally see Lyla as myself, but I am not going to limit you to that. I'll probably describe some basic physical features that will have nothing or little to do with race.


	2. No rest for those who damn His sight

     The best part of travel is coming home. You are gone long enough that you start to miss the things that started to slightly annoy you when you left, like siblings. As I went through that door, I was greeted by being immediately tackled and ending up outside of the door again. “Lyla! You are home!”  
“Alright Pytris, get off of me. You too Elaine!” I shooed off my two youngest siblings but they wouldn't let go of me. “I will drag you all to the table by my sheer force of will. Or maybe I won’t wait until the table to feast, I’ll eat you!” I then proceeded to tickle both of them and they laughed off of me allowing me a moment to stand.  
“How is it that you are the favorite sibling? You are never even home, and I slave away at school and at home for these buggers and they never greet me that enthusiastically.” Standing in front of me was Willin, the oldest boy. What a studious but sturdy young man he had grown into. Willin wasn’t much of a talker, but that apparently made him more appealing. He was a natural born leader, a man of action over talk. Plus he was a hit with all of the eligible (and not so eligible) maidens in the town which didn’t hurt his ego at all.  
“Well part of it is they know they will one day be bigger than me, part of it is I bring presents and the other part is I don’t discourage late bedtimes like a certain other person I know,” I wrapped my arms tightly around him. “I missed you.”  
“I missed you too,” he said and then proceeded to turn the hug into a squeezing contest. I hadn’t won as many in recent years as I did in our childhood.  
“And now, about dinner?” And Pytris and Elaine rushed off down the hall to the dining room, dragging me along. “And there is my final brother! Stiles, how has apprenticeship been treating you?” Stiles rose to greet me. He had grown the most, sprouting another four inches at least since I left. Where Willin was sturdy, Stiles was stringy and had the energy to fill his lanky frame. He was almost as bad as the twins, but instead of physically exhausting me, he would ask me about, well everything.  
“Did you find anything of interest? Tell me how is Quin adjusting to this unusual weather. Did you lose any crew? How did you get back so quickly? And-” I wrapped him tight into a warm embrace.  
“Just give me some affection before demanding me to relay all of the world to you,” I laughed.  
“Alright but you must tell me everything as soon as possible,” he said.  
“Enough, let me see my daughter properly!” my father shouted.  
“Aww but papa you got to see her at the docks!” Elaine argued.  
“That was business, now it’s personal.” Guin was waiting at the end of the table with mother.  
“You know that sounds far more threatening than I think you wanted it to, right?” Willin asked.  
“Stop harassing your father, and Lyla, you can take your normal seat. We eat tonight as a family,” my mother said. While Guin started our business, my mother Roslin was the one that had the vision to expand. Their legacy is what I built upon to become one of the most successful merchants in all of Thexis and maybe all of Prim.

     We all sat down for dinner, for the first time in months. Pytris was fighting with Stiles and Elaine was telling Willin about her day of classes. My parents started discussing my trip and the return of our other ships within the season. “Can I make a toast?” I raised my glass and my family did the same. “To you, not a day went by that I didn’t miss you all so very much,” I said.  
“Come on sis, you make that toast every time you come home,” Stiles complained.  
“That doesn’t make it any less sincere, I mean it every time”  
“Stop it you are gonna make me cry! I never ever ever want you to leave!” Pytris said.  
“Don’t cry, eat!” Elaine shouted. And we all dug into our meal. Meal time was an important time in our lives. While we all lead different and crazy lives, meal time was when we could all come together and just talk. It was very therapeutic, especially after the stress of traveling. And nothing compared to coming home to my family. Nothing. To know they were all safe and waiting for me kept me sane every time I left. Elaine told me of the new ideas she had about using seal skin for waterproof clothes and asked if I would help her with the stiching. Stiles told me of the new ship that he was working on in the docks. Willin discussed new policy being put into place about the plague restrictions.  
“If you could just hurry up and become a general to help me keep the Order off my back that would be great,” I told him.  
“Or your brother Pytris could hurry up and become a bard and then the Order would be too busy trying to censure him to bully you,” father chimed in.  
“My songs would simply tell the truth, and if the Order wants to stop that then…”  
“Pytris, you write wonderful ballads about love and romance. Stick to that,” I said. “Getting into trouble with the Order is too much paperwork.”  
“Speaking of that, a parcel of paperwork showed up earlier for you to fill out,” mother said.  
“By His sight if I don’t get out of His sight I might as well be dragged down to the depths of Irig itself!” I exclaimed. Elaine giggled at that.  
“Irig may not be too bad, you are already as salty as the sea,” Stiles said.  
“Plus you don’t sleep anyways so eternal work may not be such an awful punishment,” Willin chimed in.  
“Soon you would be petitioning the great Yaw Himself for better work conditions and convince Him it would help in the creation of new worlds,” Pytris added.  
“Alright you little fish, I get your point,” I laughed.

     We finished the meal with relatively little disturbance. It was a classic, with an offering to Yaw to help build a new world. Yaw is the one whose sight I blessed or damned depending on the situation. This year the priests declared He was a He, when for most of my childhood He was a She. That was part of the lore, Yaw is fluid, like the ocean and just as powerful. He created worlds and watched over His creations. Good people went to help Yaw create worlds, rewarded with being able to be creative for the rest of time. Bad people went to Irig, the bottom of the eternal sea to harvest raw materials for the creative process. Sometimes Yaw sends in His messengers, beings of great power who do His work. Or at least He used to. That is one aspect of the mythology that the Order hasn’t necessarily erased, but definitely understated. They focus mostly on the fact that Yaw supports creativity and hard work, not on the divine or powerful. I didn’t care. The Order was using religion to make sure people weren’t breaking laws, which made my life easier.  
After the meal, I went with my parents to the study. The youngest two went to bed, while Willin and Stiles headed back to their quarters in the central city. I locked the door behind me and turned to my parents. “Why am I hearing rumors about Lord Barian choosing an heir? I thought that that situation was figured out,” I asked. My parents looked at each other and father sighed and sat in his chair.  
“Lord Barian was not happy that you denied his invitation,” my mother replied. “He claims he understood but he doesn’t know all that went into that decision.”  
“So what does he think, that I think everything to do with being an heir is repulsive? Cause I definitely do but I didn’t say that to him.”  
“No he thinks you are being impulsive and he wants to help you,” father said. “The suggestion by the town council to use whomever the Order appointed didn’t sit well with him. He is in the capital right now discussing it with the Emperor.”  
“Why would that mean he didn’t take the council’s advice? And how do we know that the Emperor would fulfill this whim? There is no gain to not appoint someone from the current aristocracy.”  
“Lyla, we have sound assurance from multiple sources that the Emperor will grant his wish or whim as you put it. Thexis is becoming more and more powerful. In addition, Lord Barian was very loyal to the last Emperor. I’m sure that Tan wants to assure his allegiance and the allegiance of the people.” I hadn’t seen mother that tense in a long time. “And trust me, these sources are very good. There is a plan in motion to try and hold a competition out of all of the merchants. We don’t know the details, but we know that the winner will receive the Emperor’s blessing to take over this province.”  
“In addition, there have been odd movements in the capital. You have to be careful. If these plans go through-” My father was interrupted by a coughing attack.  
“You shouldn’t stress so much, it is making you ill father. What does that have to do with me? I already gave him my answer, surely he won’t force me to-”  
“He means to!” Father yelled. “He thinks that you are the best for the lordship, no matter who else we throw at him! It’s all your fault, persuading him to invest in those public works.”  
“Is it my fault? Who taught me how to be a ruler even though we all know that that time will never come?” I retorted. That did it. The look in my parents’ eyes hurt me like my words had hurt them, but it was the truth. “I know you want me to do well, but why can’t you see that the life we have is fine for me. I love our lives. We are safe, I just want to keep you safe!” My lips trembled. Why couldn’t they understand that? I just wanted my family to be out of trouble, they were my whole world. “We are going to discuss this later, but for now I’m going to keep acting like nothing will change. Excuse me, I have work to do.” I left and went to my chambers. My parents didn’t move to try and stop me.

     The pretense of work was a good one, but I couldn’t focus on the paperwork I had to fill out. My parents meant well when they got me the finest of all tutors when I was younger. I learned about politics, science and religion, at great cost to them. Why couldn’t they understand that I was just trying to make their lives easier? Why couldn’t they understand that I was trying to repay their love? Staying away from political intrigue was the only way to keep them safe. If we were just one family of merchants in all of Prim, nobody would want to hurt them.  
“What are you thinking about?” I nearly jumped out of my skin and drew out my twin daggers quick as lightning.  
“Cull Dorius! Give me warning next time!” I scolded. He just chuckled and came into my chamber from the window that he was perched in. “What happened to Morris?”  
“He did as you told him and is pacing in his father’s house waiting for tomorrow. He set up the appointment for the court. Will you be attending? Or are you going to try and fix the problem with Lord Barian?” I glared at him. “It’s not my fault that you are a very loud person. It also isn’t your parent’s fault or yours. You are a natural choice.”  
“Don’t you start. I’ve had this conversation with everyone. I simply don’t want power. I want to live peacefully with my family.”  
“Have you ever thought that going against the lord would put them in danger?” Dorius asked.  
“Of course, but his Lordship isn’t that kind of a person,” I replied.  
“But what about the next Lord? It won’t be kept a secret that you were wanted for the position. That could put your family in a dire situation. He or she would see you as a constant threat. They could revoke your father’s seat on the city council, make Willin a servant, never grant Stiles his own shipyard, and send Elaine and Pytris into the navy as soon as they reach enlistment age.” I stared at him. I regarded myself as a rather smart and savvy person, but I hadn’t thought about that. “Not to mention that they could take away all that you have built. The company and all of your crew. Your funds frozen and unable to help your family.”  
“Dorius, you don’t understand, I can’t.” My voice cracked. “There are things that I cannot tell you. They make this situation so much harder.” I could barely make out his expression through my tears, but it looked like pity. “Wipe that off of your face. I dug this hole myself, I will get out of it. But you are right, I need to take action.” Thoughts started flying through my mind. Keep them safe and alive. “Willin and Stiles could be sent elsewhere. I can transfer them out of the province under the guise of expanding their respective crafts. Pytris and Elaine can be sent with mother to our summer home for an extended stay. Father and I would have to stay. But we could take out our savings to help fund everyone’s new lives…”  
“Or you could participate in these games, win and have none of that planning. You would be the only one who knew,” Dorius interrupted.  
“Don’t be so narrow minded. If people found out that Lord Barian was doing this so that I could be his heir, then my family would be even more targeted. And honestly they would. No that won’t do. I’ll just have to throw the competition. Then everything could almost be normal. Take note, we start tomorrow after we get the whole Morris situation fixed. When our next ships come in and when we finally sell all of our goods, don’t take all of my portion to the bank. Bring it back here. We will put it in the vault.” I took a deep breath. So much planning left to do. Dorius placed his hand on my shoulder.  
“Lyla, you know I am loyal to you. You saved my life at sea too many times. But I think you are throwing away a huge opportunity. It’s true that I don’t know everything about you but I know that this would be a huge improvement for your family. Elevated to the family of a Lord? There would be little in their way. You could even still manage the company. For a little bit.”  
“I couldn’t, people would accuse me of favoritism. Why would Lord Barian even think about this? He is as strong as a shark and as mighty as a storm.” “It isn’t true, the Order found traces of the slow killer in him.” I ripped my eyes away from the paperwork I had been staring at. Dorius’s eyes were watching my face, gauging my reaction.  
“No...how long ago?”  
“Sometime while we were at sea. It’s too late now. The physicians can’t do anything to help him.”

     That was a major blow. The slow killer wasn’t communicable, but it was deadly. Once detected, there was very little the Order physicians could do. If detected very early on, there was a slim chance of survival, but only one of those cases existed. It is said that your body just simply shuts down, organ by organ. Nobody truly knows what it is caused by, even the Order is at a loss. But it doesn’t claim many. It appears in about one in every thousand, but unlike another plague, the survival rate was very slim. No wonder Lord Barian was now looking for an heir. Without one, the province would dissolve into a rights dispute, with everyone who had enough money pleading with the Emperor to give them a chance to be the new Lord. “Lyla, do you understand now?”  
“I understand. What am I going to do? I can’t even run my company without criticism from the Order. If I were to become the Lord, who says that they will back off. They might dig more into my life. I...can’t have that Dorius. If you trust me, you have to help me figure out what Lord Barian’s point is to all of this, besides finding an heir. Why me and why not let me off the hook?”  
“You are the best choice. Your contributions to the council through your father and your success and vision in your business show a good head on your shoulders. Plus, while the other merchants can’t stand the success you have, you share your wealth in a good way. You have their respect and admiration. But I will help you.” He didn’t look burdened with my help, he looked proud that I trusted him. I hated when he would do that. I wasn’t a great person, just a girl trying to help her family.  
“Thank you. Tell Morris I will meet him at the stall at dawn and then from there we will prepare his case.”  
“So you mean I should just wake him to go because dawn is much sooner than you think,” Dorius pointed out.  
“Cull! Get out of here and let me sleep damn it!” And with that he went out my window into the early morning. I knew when he left that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep that morning. I sighed and looked out onto my beautiful port city. I always knew someday that I would have to fight for my family, to keep them safe, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. I was only twenty at the time for Yaw’s sake! Twelve years, that was all I had. I hoped and prayed it had been enough. I slumped into my chair and started filling out paperwork. However, unlike before, I attacked the paperwork with a strange kind of craze. I simply didn’t want to think about the future, I decided to focus on the present. I ended up completing all of the paper and decided to take it with me to the townhall for filing while we were waiting for the case of Morris to be heard. You could fault the Order for being overbearing, but at least the papers are in order. That’s the one positive I was focusing on as I left my house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I know it's a little over two weeks but honestly that's okay cause I'm a couple hundred of miles away from my home right now. I don't know if anybody is reading this but if you are, thanks. Really. I have some big plans for this but again, it might take me a while. Please be patient. And if someday this gets pretty big and you are reading this way far down the road, thanks for being here too. But this is really for the first couple of you guys. Thanks


	3. An Exciting Day in the Due Process of Court

     I met with some of my crew and Morris at the stall in the market. It was early enough that the only people in the market were the ones setting up their stalls for the day. I needed only the most tactful men today. The physician, Quint would come to verify the child’s health and age, Morris was coming for obvious reasons, some of my more brutish members, Ra and Vic were coming for protection. However, Ra knew how to sound persuasive in the stickiest of situations and Vic was a master of the law. I would be going to show my support but that was it. A smaller group would impress the judge better. I left the rest to sell our stock and to watch for our other ships, they were due any day now. And down we went to the town hall. I’ll give it to Morris, he got us right into the judge. His appointment was the earliest opening and we were in about mid-morning.  
“Morris!” I turned around and saw a young woman running with a baby. Morris ran towards her but was stopped by a large man. The butcher from the blood on his apron. That boy was going to get himself knocked out if he kept acting irrationally. My crew and I walked over to smooth over the situation.  
“Anaya? And you are?” I asked.  
“Hill. Hill Decker. Her husband. Now who are you?” He asked.  
“My name is Lyla Cwen, I am Morris’s employer. I am hopeful that we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.” He glared at me but saw my muscle and didn’t make any sudden moves. “Please, this way, the judge is waiting for us. What about Anaya’s parents will they be joining us?”  
“They couldn’t make it but have sent me with their report,” Hill growled.  
“Excellent. All of you go in, I want a word with Mr. Decker.” Morris nodded and led Anaya and the rest into the town hall. “Mr. Decker, I know that this is not an ideal situation. You might lose a wife and I might lose a crew member. However, I find it odd that you are trying so hard to keep this woman. As a butcher, women must be trying to gain your favor. You would provide a stable income and home for anyone. Why would you want a wife who doesn’t care for you and a child that might not be yours?” He looked me up and down.  
“I have my reasons,” was all he responded. Oh, I thought, I know you have them and I’m going to expose them. I walked with him into the judge.

     The courtroom was nothing fancy, the Order wanted practicality and functionality in these matters. Leave the art for Yaw they claimed, but leave the function for man. The judge was seated at an elevated desk and we each took a seat in front of her. There were scribes on the side ready to take down every detail.  
“I now call to order this case of Morris Res versus the Deckers. This is case number 62948HO in case you need to access the file at a later date. A receipt will be given to you after the proceedings here today. If you could all state your names and purpose here today for the record we will proceed as soon as possible. Mr. Res?”  
“Present. I am making the claim that the child in question is mine and I deserve to be married to Anaya.”  
“Good, Mr and Mrs Decker?”  
“Present.” Hill said. “I am defending that this is my child. I also carry the letters from Anaya’s parents about this case since they couldn’t be here today.” He handed over the letters to the scribes. “They have been sealed for confidentiality reasons.” Oh yes they had.  
“Thank you very much Mr. Decker. And you all?”  
“Sir, I am Mr. Res’s employer, Lyla Cwen and this is my physician, Quint, and my protection for Mr. Res for after this case, Vic and Ra. Vic is also a legal consultant whose identification number is 6C9U. We are here to defend Mr. Res’s claim to the child.” That got another glare from Hill. But it didn’t matter. The truth would come forth.  
“Alright thank you Lyla. Now the record shows that this child was born about a two weeks ago. It was a baby girl weighing 7 pounds and by all accounts the babe was healthy. Is this the child in question in your arms young lady?” Anaya nodded. “Physician could you please examine the babe again to make sure it is still healthy?” Quint nodded and proceeded to check the baby. A good natured child, she just cooed and smiled all through the process.  
“I have seen many children your Honor, and I can almost guarantee that this child is fully developed and not premature,” Quint said. “Your Honor, may I provide some information about the whereabouts of Morris?” I asked.  
“Please.”  
“We left less than six months ago. I also know for a fact that Morris and this young lady were quite fond of each other and probably had intercourse before we left. I read the initial birth certificate. The doctors didn’t declare this child to be sickly in any way like they would if she was born premature. This implies that she was carried very near full term. And seeing as the Deckers got married after we left the fact that it could be Mr. Decker’s child is implausible.”  
“Implausible but not impossible!” Hill said.  
“That is true your Honor but I have some more evidence to support this case. If I may?”  
“Proceed Lyla.”  
“Mr. Decker has a personal grudge against Morris. I have evidence in the form of witnesses and receipts from Mr. Res’s father about meat that was purchased from Mr. Decker. When Mr. Res started courting Anaya, the prices of the meat bought there went significantly up. If the court would please open up the letters from Anaya’s parents, you will find that Mr. Decker blackmailed them by saying he would not sell them meat at a decent price.” Seeing the look on everyone’s faces told me that nobody else had pieced two and two together. Only the judge had her mouth closed and she looked slightly amused.  
“How do I know that you didn’t just make this up Lyla to save the skin of your employee?” She asked.  
“That is an excellent question. I don’t only have the letters but I also have the parents themselves. They are in a separate courtroom being questioned right now. During our recess you can check their stories against mine. The reason Mr. Decker didn’t want anyone to look too closely into his marriage is because he has been cooking the books. Many don’t know this fact, but Mr. Res was an apprentice to Mr. Decker about five years ago. That relationship was terminated suddenly when Mr. Res learned how to do figures and realized something wasn’t adding up. Mr. Res thought it was because he did the math wrong and that’s why Mr. Decker fired him. However, it was actually that he did the math right and was going to out him. Plus Mr. Decker has always had his eye on Anaya. Once he saw that Mr. Res was courting her, he decided that he would ruin his life. Mr. Decker set Morris up with my company, to send him away and then take his girl. Anaya’s parents realized when she was pregnant and did the math. They went to Mr. Decker to tell him about the mistake they made and he blackmailed them to keep them quiet.” Hill’s face was livid. He looked like he was about to pop a vein.  
“Interesting, and Mr. Decker your response to this?”  
“How could this be true! This is outrageous!” Hill exclaimed.  
“If there is no claim to her story, then you won’t mind if we take a recess to evaluate the evidence brought up by Ms. Cwen?”  
“I do! Why is my honor being brought into question? I shouldn’t have to prove myself!” Hill roared.  
“This is a court Mr. Decker, that is the whole point. It doesn’t matter what you think anyways. We will break for a recess to try and find this evidence. We will come back together this evening right after the market closes. Until then, you all will stay in the inn across the street to prevent any tampering of evidence. Men!” Suddenly there were soldiers in the room. “Take these folks over to the inn and make sure they stay. We will return with new information and I will hopefully have a verdict. Ever in His sight.” Well, I thought, there goes my chance to file paperwork while I was here.  
“Ever in His sight,” we all replied.

     And away we went to the inn across the street. Hill was staring daggers into my back. He wasn’t letting us anywhere near Anaya but Morris was doing his best to try and talk to her. Quint went and got us all drinks, we were in for a long day. I sent Morris to find me a boy from the inn to try and ease the tension. He came back far too quickly. “Morris, don’t you understand that I was trying to keep you out of the same room as Hill to try and make this day a little less tense? Geez, the one time I wouldn’t skin you for being slow is the one time you made quick work of the task I gave you. Here get a little buzzed, it might help your nerves.” I handed him my drink and proceeded to talk to the inn boy. “What is your name?”  
“Barian ma’am.”  
“Just like our Lordship how wonderful. You look as though you have inherited the strength that comes with a name like that.” He puffed his chest out when I said that. “Now I wouldn’t trust just anyone with this. I am not allowed to leave but I think you can handle this job. These papers need to go to town hall and be given the Hall of Trade. I am including a personal note to them explaining the situation and there is an extra tip in it for you if you fight to the front of the line and come back super quick.” He nodded and took the stack of papers and scampered off.  
“This is no inconvenience to you. This is just fun for you to ruin someone’s life!” Hill yelled at me. I sighed and turned towards him.  
“I just got back from a trip yesterday. Do you think I want to be here going through all of this? I have so much to do. I have spices to sell, other ships to check on and more paperwork from the Order sitting for me at home. However, Morris is one of my crewmates, and is my charge. If you are going to try and ruin his life, you will have to go through me. Plus, you are the one that suggested for him to work for me. It’s all your fault anyways. And if you are innocent, what is the damage? Nothing. Only a guilty man acts this way.” That shut his trap right up.

     And so we waited for the market to close. The inn boy came back and I paid him for his troubles. At least that was taken care of, I thought. Hill sulked in a corner, which allowed for Morris to talk to Anaya and see the baby clearly. All newborns look like potatoes to me, but this was a very cute potato. She had a splattering of freckles across her face, just like her father. Ra, it turned out, was great with children and was able to get her to fall asleep with little effort. Morris and Anaya sat and talked for a while before coming over to me.  
“Lyla, we wanted to thank you for everything you have done,” Morris said. “Without you this wouldn’t be possible. When did you have the time to gather all of this information?”  
“I have my ways. And don’t worry about it. You are still a member of my crew, I would defend any crew from this bad of a situation. I knew something fishy was going on when Hill wasn’t even curious to see if the child was his. Especially now that I’ve seen her. You did a good job in bringing her into this world Anaya.” She blushed at that. “And Morris, after the strife you put this young lady through, you have to make it up to her.” And luckily at that moment, the soldiers came back in. The market had closed and it was now time for the final verdict to be given. We all filed out of the inn and went back into that courtroom.

     The judge was waiting for us with Anaya’s parents and several other people, including several guards. Hill tensed up when he saw that.  
“Welcome back. Without further delay let us resume this case,” the judge motioned for everyone to sit. “I have some evidence here, Mr. Decker that needs some explaining from you. I have your money keeping books and have had them analyzed and there is something not right. Would you care to explain yourself?”  
“I can’t do math very well.”  
“That’s it? That’s your excuse? Are you sure you want to go with that?” Hill nodded. “Very well, I remind you that the Order offers free bookkeeping help every week so that is not a good enough reason for there to be such odd money loss considering the things you have bought. And with a look further into this matter I have found that you have engaged in prostitution and the illegal smuggling of meat. One might have hoped this would have ended once you got married, but that appears to not be the case. In addition to that, you had your wife locked up when she tried to get a parental test done. The test has been done and Mr. Res is indeed the father.” Morris actually had tears in his eyes when he made eye contact with Anaya. “Plus you did indeed fire Mr. Res for correctly adding up your expenses and have over charged him ever since he started seeing this woman. These are the crimes of a very selfish man, and that is the kind of man the Order and Yaw cannot abide.” My men puffed up with pride. We did it, we had saved one of our own. But I didn’t celebrate just yet, there was still the sentence to be given. “Ms. Cwen?”  
“Yes your Honor?”  
“If I took this employee out of your hands would you object?”  
“You are wise and know better of justice than I do, who am I to interfere?” I responded.  
“Excellent. Here is my ruling. Mr. Decker and Mrs. Decker are no longer legally wed. She is free to marry whomever she chooses but the court would like to suggest marriage to the father of her child, Mr. Res. Mr. Decker will serve in jail for the crimes of prostitution and smuggling. He will be let out for an hour every day to continue the apprenticeship he started with Mr. Res many years ago, as Mr. Res will now take over the butcher’s shop. This is payment for the firing of a smart man, charging him over priced meat and for stealing away his woman. This is my final verdict. If any of you object, you can appeal to a higher court at your own expense. This is to go into effect immediately. Come to get the receipt of this case for your own records and then you are all dismissed. Ever in His Sight!”  
“Ever in His sight,” we all said. And that was it, we had won.

     Hill protested loudly that he was innocent as he was dragged away by the guards. Morris and Anaya were holding each other and crying. Quint, Ra and Vic all left, their jobs done. The judge came up to me. I bowed.  
“Your Honor,” I said.  
“Lyla Cwen. What you did today was no small feat. You helped to uphold justice and were wise and visionary in your pursuit of the truth. Plus you led us to an illegal prostitution and smuggling ring. The Order will not soon forget this great service.”  
“I only did what was right. A crew member was in danger, and so I protected him,” I responded. The judge looked at me for a moment. I felt like she was unraveling the secrets of my soul.  
“You know there are rumors that Lord Barian is looking for an heir among the best merchants in Thexis. If it comes down to it, I think many of us would rather it goes to a native of this town rather than some little princeling from the capital. If you need it, you may be able to find support in the Order Ms. Cwen.” I didn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.  
“I had no idea the Order had such high opinions of my work. Thank you…” I realized that I didn’t even know this woman’s name.  
“Lisa Sandar. I know that you have reasons to be suspicious of the Order. Your success made us believe you were cutting corners. However, these fears were unjustified. And your resourcefulness has peaked the interest of many.” She then left the courtroom. Morris and Anaya came over and thanked me, both sobbing.  
“Alright, ALRIGHT! I get it you are happy. Now you two need to return to the butcher’s and try and figure out your new lives. Also get married as soon as possible to smooth everything over. Morris, I expect some good meat from now on. And Anaya, try and help him, he is such a clutz. He never truly did get his sea legs. And you!” I looked right at the happy baby who had just woken up. “Don’t cause your parents any more trouble okay?”

     They thanked me again and went on their way. I went back to the market with the events of the day and the revelation that the Order didn’t hate my guts spinning around my head. As I approached my stall, Tib came out to greet me.  
“Today was a good day. We got better offers on our goods and heard news of two of the ships out on voyage. They will arrive in port within the week! Plus you have come out victorious in your court case today! Yaw is smiling upon your hard work!” He gushed.  
“Yes Tib, this is a good wind of fortune. However, it may turn against us. Never let your guard down,” I sighed. “Who knows what enemy could be opposite of the way the wind blows.” He looked at me curiously. It had been a long day and I knew he could tell.  
“Dorius said that if you were going to just mope around, you were to go home, eat and then sleep.”  
“Where is he? I need to talk to him?”  
“Nope he said you would say that if you were going to just be a wet rag. I already called a carriage. Go home and don’t trouble your mind until tomorrow!” For once, I decided to take Tib’s advice and called it a day. I got in the carriage when it came and fell asleep before I even made it home.


	4. Apparently Everyone in Town Knows More Than Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I guess the two of you who are still reading, here is to make up for the later time last update.

    I awoke the next morning in my bed. A servant was sitting beside my bed. She stood up when she saw I was up.   
“Mistress! You are awake! When you came home asleep in a carriage last night you made us worry so much. Guin and Roslin want to see you as soon as possible. At the table.”   
“Thank you Morya. I need to get changed out of my clothes. I’ve been wearing these clothes for a long time.” She left and I got out of bed. It wasn’t shocking that my parents would want to see me, as ships were going to be coming in and plans needed to be made. And I now had plans to make for myself. Before heading down to breakfast, I sent a message to Dorius about setting up a backdoor bank account for funds to be transferred to if my family needed to leave suddenly. My parents were sitting at the table.   
“You have some good news, the  _ Torrus _ caught a good wind and will return tomorrow,” my father said.   
“Yeah I think Tib mentioned that yesterday,” I replied.    
“Also, you need to watch yourself. Coming home dead asleep might leave the wrong impression,” mother added.   
“Wool, it doeshn’t mattah,” I answered with my mouth full. I gulped down my fruit quickly. “Everyone knows that other merchants drink far more than I do when they come home, so they might think that that is what is happening.”   
“We don’t want to give off that impression Crew Enterprises is still a classy company.”   
“Since when old man Guin? This is a company made up of criminals and drunkards who we have relabeled as notable fine upstanding citizens of Thexis.”   
“That isn’t true, and you both know it. You can’t throw away the opportunity you have been given Lyla. You could be in the running for the lordship, you can’t make anymore false moves. You will be targeted no matter what your opinion about it is,” mother said. “You don’t know how this will end-”   
“Neither do you. I’m not talking about this right now. I have things I must get in order. I know I must look amazing after yesterday’s feat but I still have stock to sell and perhaps I can get a head start on the paperwork for the _ Torrus _ .” They shared a look. I knew that look well, it was the she’s so stubborn, she got that from you, no you, look. I sighed and stood up. “Yes I’m stubborn and honestly we just have word of mouth at this point. No decision should be made until a statement is made.” 

    At that moment a servant came in.    
“Ms. Lyla, Dorius is here to escort you to the shop.”   
“Thank you Terance. I’ll be right down. Mother and Father, I take my leave now. If you need me, I’ll be in the market for a majority of the day. I will be home for dinner. Is Stiles working at the shipyard today?”   
“He is, and you still owe him a recap of your trip to Quin.”   
“Perhaps I’ll swing by on my way to lunch. Love you both.” I kissed my parents goodbye and then went out to meet Dorius.    
“There is my drunkard boss. I heard terrible rumors that you fell asleep on the carriage ride home and then woke up and shouted profanities at her neighbors.” Dorius joked.    
“We both know that while it isn’t impossible that that happened, we both know what my sleep schedule has been like for the last six months. I think my body decided it was finally time to crash.”   
“What’s on the agenda today? We honestly don’t have that much stock left.”   
“I’m going to get a jump start on the paperwork for the ships coming in and you and I will get started on our plan from the other day. Plus I need to prep Tib for the incoming ships. I have letters from their captains about the exact cargo they are bringing in. I got enough sleep last night to last me for a month.” We got into the carriage.    
“Really? Cause if I remember correctly the last time you didn’t get enough sleep for a week, you needed to recuperate for at least 4 days.”   
“What’s the bet with the crew?”   
“You would assume that we would-”   
“What is the bet?” I interrupted. Dorius looked down at his hands in his lap. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me. It wasn’t the first time the crew had bet on me. The ongoing bet for my hand in marriage was that I would either die at sea or become a foreign queen by enticing some poor prince. I personally was leaning towards dying at sea cause then my family wouldn’t have to pay for funeral expenses. And why would I want to be queen? It didn’t make sense to me.    
“The most popular bet is a week. Tib said a month though before you crack.”   
“And you?”   
“It’s just like the bet on your marriage, I don’t bet on you. I like to keep my job, no matter what you say about not skinning someone and tanning their hide for betting on you.”    
“I guess I do say that a lot don’t I? I wouldn’t actually tan anybody’s hide that I knew. That is a process better left for strangers. Very messy. Lots of blood that I would have to clean up so I would need lots of friends to help. Skinned friends don’t help clean.”    
“Still wouldn’t bet on you. And here we are, city hall. Go get that paperwork! I’ll be at the market.” And with that Dorius shoved me out to get a start on paperwork.    
“Damn His sight. I hate paperwork. AND YOU LIED! YOU SAID WE WERE GOING TO THE SHOP!” I yelled at the carriage leaving me behind. 

    I walked up the steps of the city hall. It was busier than it was the day before. I got inside and went down to the shipment wing in the basement. I got my paperwork and started to file some preliminary work for the Order when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. It was a rival merchant, Olicia. As two of the richest merchants who also happened to be two women, we had had our fair share of encounters. She came from a long standing family of merchants, their family had been sailing out of the port of Thexis since there was a port of Thexis. Probably even before that. We didn’t see eye to eye on many things. She considered my crew and company to be...crass. And I, well I didn’t like to go to pretend to be something I’m not to try and get in her inner circle. She made her way over to me. “Olicia, how are you?”   
“Well if by His sight my ships come in within the week then all will be better. You returning early was...a surprise.” Her disdain for me hadn’t diminished at all. She literally and figuratively looked down on me, she was a tall woman.    
“Cut the cull, it was good for you and everyone else in this town. I was just thinking of the future of our town. If we all go out early and return with more goods throughout the year, we will become more profitable and we will have to do less work to make more money. I was simply looking out for all of us.” Olicia would get wrinkles from pursing her lips like that.    
“Now you cut the cull. You were just thinking of yourself.”   
“I wasn’t actually, but if that is how you will cope with your soon to be fortune, I guess I can’t judge.” The confusion on her face would also create wrinkles, but on her forehead. I decided I wouldn’t tell her that either. Worrying about others is one fast way to age yourself.   
    I wasn’t lying. I knew that if we became the first to markets and the first to return, some of the more prominent sellers would come to Thexis. We would build up a reputation and force others to buy lesser goods because we get there first and have first pick. Our town would grow in influence and status, benefiting all of the citizens.    
“If that were truly the case, you still are doing this because you heard rumors about Lord Barius finding a possible heir. You did this to please him.”   
“Not that you care, but I didn’t have that information until I got back into town. Now, we are making a scene on the stairs. I have paperwork to do, we can continue this inside if you want to.” She considered it for a minute. Then she got this look in her eyes, the look that I had seen many times when she thought she was going to ruin some part of my life.    
“I am done with my paperwork, you should go in. Also, I assume if you heard about the heir thing, you also heard about the ball? It’s supposed to be the biggest event of the year. The Emperor himself is coming.” Of course he is. Nothing that week was going as planned. Hopefully though, I thought, that means that my ships will come in early.    
“Bless His sight! We will be so blessed to have the Emperor here! Now I really must attend to paperwork so I can find the one tailor in town you haven’t bribed to not make me an outfit.” The sarcasm from my voice could have been visible in the right conditions. Olicia glared at me and then turned and went down the steps. I went into city hall to pick up my paperwork. I swear it never ends, I thought. One moment you think you’ve done something good for everyone and then they don’t appreciate it. I guess I could have been a little nicer, but Olicia probably did bribe every tailor in town to make sure that I wouldn’t have an outfit. 

    It was a long morning of filing paperwork. Even if what Judge Sandar said was true, the Order doesn’t even let their favorites get out of going through protocol. I got done around lunch. I grabbed a sandwich from a vendor and made my way down to the shipyard. I probably should have gone to the shop, but I wanted to go see my brother. Stiles was full of energy, and when he wasn’t working on something that challenged him he became antsy. He tried his hand at everything there was to do in Thexis. He trailed troubadours, craftsmen, artists and the Order trying to find something he could put his energy into. Then one day he followed me and Guin to the shipyard to look at a new ship we had commissioned. He was fascinated. Here was something that he could constantly tinker with and have it actually make a difference in our city. And he spent almost every single day since there. He found his calling in the experimental part of the shipyard. They tested different types of wood, paint, ship types and sail fabrics to improve speed without compromising structural integrity. I got to the shipyard and found him in a corner lighting some fabric on fire. “Why can I never find you doing normal things?” I asked.   
“Maybe it’s cause you are my sister. I follow by example.”    
“And what about me isn’t normal? I am the epitome of normal! You are the weird one!”   
“I call cull! You are far from normal.”   
“Where is all the love from yesterday?”   
“What love? I remember you didn’t answer any questions I asked and you just talked about yourself like the golden child you are. And Pytris and Elaine were the only ones who said they missed you. I liked it better with you gone because then they aren’t fawning over you.”   
“I am a golden child aren’t I? After all I’m the only one who was allowed to take over the company.”   
“No, the rest of us don’t care. Now about Quin…” He sure was a persistent little gup.    
“Quin. What can I say? A new Northern route opened, so I decided to take a risk. Your new wood performed beautifully in the cold water. Quin is worried about this warmer weather. The information we got from our contacts in Quin was right, their growing season started earlier this year and so they had the goods ready when we got there. I did find something interesting for Soewin. They tatoo interestingly in Quin now, a new fad. He’s gonna try and replicate it. I didn’t lose any crew, oh no wait I did. Yesterday. I was in court all day dealing with that problem. Why are you setting that on fire? We aren’t at war.”   
“No but we had an order from another merchant. Coming back from the Islands of Yti they encountered some ships with flaming arrows. Nothing happened to them but now we have to test paint and sails.”   
“So judging by the ashes that I see around you and the fact that that I saw that sail burn up you have not found a solution?”   
“No I’m just having fun. What do you think?”   
“Who taught you that sarcasm? It wasn’t me.”   
“Oh no it wasn’t you at all.” He said. I was so proud. 

      We spent the rest of my lunch talking about some of his new projects. I left him while he was setting more sails on fire. I then went to the shop. We were nearly out of stock. Our spices were entirely gone, so we were relying on our daily fish to produce sales. Tib was haggling it out with a customer and proudly showing off his new scales.    
“When we get our next shipment, which I know will be within the next two days, I will be able to measure with accuracy the exact amount of spices. Do you have anything on you that you know the weight of?” I left him talking to the customer and went into the shop. There I was greeted by only a handful of crew. Like me, they all had matters to attend to at home and got the most of it done while we were waiting in between ship arrivals. And if the Order would let me, I would have another ship out in less than a month to try and get a second wind before the season ended.    
“Tib said the  _ Torrus _ would be coming in soon. Is that true?” Ewian, one of my crew asked.    
“Yes and it is bringing with it lumber and minerals from Ryst. So spread that around. But they did lose some crew in Ryst. There was some criminal activity and they got detained.” That caused some shock on the faces of the crew there.    
“Who was it?” Dorius asked.    
“New hires from this season like Morris. According to their Capitan it was justified. They will pay their own fines for stupidity and be back hopefully on the next ship. They will be detained for plague and get a slap on the wrist from the Order, but that's all.”    
“Who is getting a slap on the wrist from the Order? Not us right?” Tib asked.    
“Some of us. Here are the records from Capitan Wren. It details what he sold and what he bought so you can prepare for it.” I handed over the papers to Tib for him to examine. “Some of our new hires decided to cause a ruckus. I told Wren to leave them there until the end of the season. Yaw willing, I will have a ship returning for them within a month.”   
“Well this will restore your reputation after the Morris thing,” piped in one of my other crew, Ike.    
“If you think that hurt my reputation, you have no idea how to be a leader Ike. I’ll never give you your own ship if you can’t see beyond the surface.”   
“Yeah Ike, didn’t you hear that our dear own boss was praised for her work by a judge.”   
“How did you hear that Ewain?” If word had already gotten to my crew about that little exchange then it was going to be bad news with the other merchants for a while, especially if Olicia was right about the ball.   
“I didn’t tell anyone, I swear!”   
“Yeah but Lyla is thinking if it got to your thick skull then other people know about it,” Dorius chimed in.    
“Yes, but it also explains more of what happened with Merchant Olicia today. She saw me at the town hall, which thank you by the way Dorius. Next time that happens, I am going to skin you.”   
“I thought skinning was reserved for strangers not friends.”   
“The way you abandoned me today makes us more like strangers than friends.”   
“I would argue that it makes you more friends! Strangers would pretend to care!” Tib interjected.    
“Do I pay you all to stand around making snarky comments? No. What else do you have to do cause if you can’t find work I have errands for you all to do.” Everyone except Tib shrugged, the sign in our crew that they had nothing better to do. It was now time to get my plan in place. Did I really come up with it only two days ago? Or was it just one night ago, I thought. It didn’t matter, especially with the revelation from Olicia, now was the time to implement it. 

     “Dorius, I need you to go to the Lord’s estate. I have some things that will need to be signed by his secretary.” The look in his eyes told me that he understood I needed no such thing. I knew I could trust him to get the information I was really sending him to find. “Ewain, you will stay and help Tib divide out the funds. Ike, Gillian, Ret and Collin, you all will run errands for them by delivering the resulting wages. I will be at the bank for a little bit if anyone wants to contact me.” Dorius and I left the shop and left the others to figure out the money.    
“Ever since you hired Tib, you have never done the money yourself.”   
“Work smarter and not harder Dorius. Why do someone’s work when I hired them? Everyone has a purpose in our company and I won’t be the one to prevent them from doing that purpose. And speaking of that…” Dorius smiled, saluted to me and then walked down the street towards the Lord’s estate. I sighed and turned down towards city hall again. Damn if only I had His sight, I thought. Then I wouldn’t be walking around in random circles because then I would be able to see the pattern of my life and weave a much better pattern. “Or a much more efficient one. I swear if I do anymore walking because of my own stupidity I will skin myself,” I muttered. I walked up to the bank and went through the doors. Surprisingly there was not a long line. I walked right up to a teller. “Lyla Cwen. Account number R530.”   
“Thank you Ms. Cwen. What can we do for you today?”   
“I would like to withdraw some funds from my account.”   
“Oh, well you can’t do that at the current moment.”   
“And why not? Is something out of place? I can file the right paperwork right now if-”   
“No it’s not that. Lord Barius just placed an ice on your accounts. You can add but not withdraw.”


	5. Crying is good for the soul

     “Excuse me? Did you say that Lord Barius placed an ice on my account?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. An ice allowed the owner to add money, but to not withdraw. They could only rely on what they had in cold, hard coin. Fortunately I had coin to get by, but my plan could not be executed. Cull, why did this have to happen now of all times, I thought.  
“Yes.”  
“May I ask if a reason was given for this ice?” I will sue if there is no reason, I reasoned with myself.  
“You may.” The teller flipped through his notebook. “An ice has been placed on all major merchant’s accounts as of yesterday. A notice was sent out today to the homes of these merchants detailing how the ice could be lifted.” He looked at me though his glasses.  
“Of course it was,” I sighed. That probably meant that I was the only one who had gone to the bank, everyone else had already known and didn’t try to make any withdraws. “Then I have no business today. Thank you.”  
“Bless His sight,” the teller said.  
“Bless His sight.” I replied. Well at least that explains why Olicia was so smug. But it also meant that she couldn’t do anything either. Barius was trying to make everyone not have access to their savings. Right around the beginning of the season too. That meant that if the competition was happening, it was starting right now. I had to get home. I need to see what that note said. My parents wouldn’t have opened up the letter if it was disguised, which I assumed is what happened because they hadn’t tried to contact me with that information. The day was just getting better and better. I called a carriage to go home. I sent a messenger to Tib, explaining the situation and telling him to send my pay directly to me. I also told him to tell the crew, I didn’t want them getting mixed up with this. I got home quickly and burst through the front doors. “Terrance! Terrance!” I shouted. He appeared behind me without making any noise.  
“Yes Miss?”  
“Is there any mail for me today?”  
“Yes, in fact one came in after you left this morning.”  
“Where is it?” I needed to see that letter  
“It’s in your study-”  
“Thank you Terrance!” I sprinted up to my study. I passed mother on my way up.  
“Lyla you are home early-” I just kept moving past her and called back,  
“Yeah I know. I’ll tell you why as soon as I know what I am home for.” She looked at me a little funny at that but let me go. There it was, sitting on a pile of mail on my desk. An inconspicuous letter, with no identifying marks. It came in undetected as I suspect it was meant to. That way I would be the only one who would have read it. I ripped it open.  
          _Dear Merchant. Lyla Cwen,_  
 _Let’s not mince words. All of your accounts have been iced by myself, Lord Barius of Thexis. Just your personal accounts though, your company accounts are still open. Your relatives also have access to their accounts. I this is part of my plan to  name an heir. I also have a plan to make sure you are all honest and trying your best. I will formally choose at a ball that everyone is invited to at the end of the season. You have until then to impress me. I look forward to what you can do._  
_Lord Barius_

  
     I threw down the letter. I didn’t want to impress him. I didn’t want anything to do with this.  
“Lyla, I don’t think you have a choice anymore.” Dorius had come in without me noticing.  
“I know. Why? Why won’t he let me out of this?”  
“It wasn’t him. The Emperor wanted you in the running. Barius wanted to just leave you alone, but I guess this is some sick game to him to watch all of you scramble for power.”  
“And with the Emperor watching me, I can’t just throw it all away. Did you hear what happened to my accounts?” Dorius nodded. There was a knock on my door. “We will talk later, go.” He climbed out of the window. “Come in.” It was my mother.  
“Lyla, what happened? I haven’t seen you this worked up in a long time,” she said.  
“Is father home?”  
“No, what happened?” Mother really looked worried. I didn’t want to cause her to worry, but given the circumstances I don’t think I could have said anything that wouldn’t make her worry. I bent down and picked up the letter.  
“I went down to the bank and found that my accounts had been iced. Not the family or business ones but my personal accounts.”  
“Why would the bank do that?”  
“Oh the bank would do anything that Lord Barius says,” I retorted. “Read this.” I handed her the letter. “You were right, he was making a competition. And it gets worse. He did go to the emperor about this, and it was decided I would be forced to compete with the others for the Lordship.”  
“Lyla, I didn’t know how far this would go. You can’t do this. If it were to come out-”  
“I know!” I stopped her before she continued and pointed towards the open window. And towards the door out of my study that she had left ajar. She took note and didn’t finish her sentence.  
“Why would he want you so bad? Why would the Emperor get involved?”  
“You know about as much as I do.” I walked over to the window and closed it as mother walked over to the door. When I heard it click shut I turned to face her. “I think they found out. Somehow Emperor Tane knows.” I couldn’t keep the growing hysteria out of my voice.  
“No, there is no way he knows. Once they saw the pigs, they knew that if there were any bodies left, they would have been eaten. We know that. You are worrying when there is no cause to worry.”  
“Except for the fact that we left no bodies to be found. If they looked into it, it would be bad.”  
“Why would they look into it? Pigs have eaten every dead person in the arena. I’ve told you this.” Roslin was trying to reassure me, but I felt that something wasn’t right about this.  
“You all are in grave danger. Since I can’t access my accounts, you all will have to do this without my help. I think I can get Willin and Stiles transferred out of the city. They need to stay away from this. You and the twins too can leave.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your recent trip, excitement and exhaustion has clouded your thoughts. If we were all to leave except Guin and yourself, then that would raise suspicion. Luckily for you, Willin received a transfer request a couple of weeks ago down to Bhall. There is a school for military strategists there and his superiors think that it would be beneficial for him to go. He needs to finish up some training here and he will be gone on orders in a couple of weeks. He will probably be asked to come back for the ball though.”

  
     I knew she was right. I was reacting too soon. I didn’t know why the Emperor wanted me in this competition and I didn’t know for sure that he knew about my past.  
“I know...I just-” My voice cracked. “I just want to keep all of you safe. You all are the most precious thing I have, you are my family.” I put my head in my hands. Mother’s arms wrapped around me. I melted into her embrace.  
“We are, and you are one of the most precious things to us. I know you are scared to lose us. Look at me.” I looked up. “We aren’t going anywhere. We are here and we love you and your determination to keep us safe. However, we aren’t powerless. You can only do so much, but we can do the rest. That’s the wonderful part about being a part of a loving family. When you can’t do it all yourself, we are here for you. We will not let this shake us.”  
“You are right. We need to regroup.”  
“You closed the window because of Dorius right?”  
“Yes, he is the one who told me the Emperor got involved at such a personal level.”  
“It probably is for the best, he wouldn’t understand.”  
“Well I have a ball to prepare for and only coin that I have on hand to pay for it. And I have the rest of the season to plan for.”  
“You haven’t used your personal funds to help the company have you?”  
“No, but it was a nice thing to be able to fall back on if something were to happen.” We seperated. “Thanks mom.”  
“Of course, I am here, and your father is too, somewhere.”  
“Probably in the personal bath that he thinks nobody knows about in the basement behind the locked door.”  
“You know about that?”  
“We all do. We are on a rotating schedule to use it. We only go to the public baths for keeping up appearances.”  
“Well tell him. Locking up that room all the time is making mold, I’m sure of it. He also thinks that I don’t know about it either.” She gave me one last hug. “Are you prepared for the Torrus coming in tomorrow?”  
“Dorius lied to me and dropped me off at city hall to file paperwork. This all feels like a story, where everything exciting is happening so close together,” I said. Mother smiled at that.  
“If it were a story, then I wouldn't be on my cycle. They always seem to overlook that aspect of life.” We both laughed at that. Mother left the study and I went back to my window and opened it up. I felt the sea breeze on my skin and closed my eyes. I just need to focus, what do I want to happen, I thought. Do I want to win the Lordship? Or do I want to keep going as I am? I opened up my eyes. It was decision time, hesitation could bring disaster. With the emperor so invested, I could no longer hide. I sat down at my desk and started to draft a letter.  
                  _Dear Lord Barius,_  
 _Thank you for your invitation. I will gladly join this cause and will do my best to impress you and His Excellency, the Great Emperor Tane of the Empire of Prim. I look forward to the challenge._  
_Merchant Lyla Cwen_  
I folded it up and sealed it in an envelope with the company’s crest, a variation on an anchor in my family’s color of wax, a dusty rose.  
“Terrance?”  
“Yes Miss?”  
“Please send this letter to the Lord’s estate.”  
“Of course.” He took the letter and turned around.  
“Thank you.” And that was that. I had officially accepted the challenge to become a potential heir. The one thing I thought I never would do, but I couldn’t change it at that point.

  
     The rest of the evening passed without event. I stayed in my study until dinner looking into the laws of Thexis. There had been no record of the Lordship being passed to someone who wasn’t related to someone of noble birth. Sure there had been breaks in the lineage, a woman who was barren but her husband didn’t want to take another wife to have an heir, a young man who ran away with his squire, and most recently, Lord Barius, who was simply not interested in that kind of thing. He had no other family either. Everyone had either died off or was too distant of a relative that their claim on the Lordship was as valid as someone from Quin. Or they had run away and nobody knew where they were. I then sent another servant on an errand to find out if city hall had any records of a similar case in another Lordship, especially since Emperor Tane had gained control. After that, I headed down for dinner. It was a smaller affair this time, with Stiles and Willin out. Elaine bugged me until I promised that after dinner I would finally help her with her new waterproof idea. “I’ve only been home a couple of days gup, give me a little rest!”  
“You had enough rest when you came home asleep in a carriage,” father said.  
“Oh, listen well on a tale we will now dwell. It’s one of caution, so hold on to your cotton, it’s about a certain lass, who without sleep had no class!” Pytris sang. We all laughed at that as we made our offerings to Yaw. Please, I asked, lead me with Your knowledge on how to be proceed. Dinner finished and we went to parlor. Elaine got out her sealskin and Pytris was tuning his instruments. I got out the thickest needle I owned and helped Elaine with her project. Stiles came in later, covered in soot.  
“Well it looks like you continued to have fun after I left,” I said.  
“Some idiot thought it would be funny to add a little more “spark” into my last experiment. I had to stay longer to clean up,” he growled.  
“Come sing with me Stiles,” Pytris beckoned.  
“No, go bathe,” father said while eyeing the floor Stiles was getting dirt on.  
“Yeah and use father’s. I know he used it today so the servants have just cleaned it,” I chimed in. Father whipped his head around to me. I ignored him.  
“Is it my turn? I thought Elaine was next.” Stiles commented.  
“Turns? What bath do you think you are talking about? We don’t have a bath.”  
“Father, we’ve been using it in secret for a year. And mother is concerned about mold, so stop keeping all the steam in there until night.” The look on his face after I said that was priceless. His jaw was almost unhinged. Totally worth it.  
“Alright, go get cleaned up Stiles,” father sighed. “When were you going to tell me?”  
“Oh I was going to tell you eventually, maybe after I snuck the entire crew in one day,” I retorted. Pytris and Elaine were laughing on the ground. “Alright Elaine, what do you want me to help you with next?”  
“Oh, this is fine for now. I was going to test it out in the baths but if I can just use the one in the house I can take my own sweet time creating it now. Thanks for letting the lobster out.”  
“Alright you two, it’s time for you to go to bed.” Mother herded up the twins and led them upstairs. I hugged them and kissed both on their foreheads and sent them with mother.

  
     Father stood up and came over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder, and sat down next to me. We shared a look. We were too similar to talk much, but we could read each other easily.  
“Roslin told me what happened,” he said.  
“I figured she would.”  
“We are going to get through this, all together. And if the company fails, we have my magnificent savings!”  
“And also the coin I’ve been saving since I’ve been making coin, which I think is more than your savings. No I know it is. I had been saving for years by the time you set aside money.”  
“I knew making you the leader of the company was the best decision. And if you become the new Lord, I know that will also be a good choice, if not the right choice.”  
“Thanks, but I also know you are getting tired too. You should go to bed, the elderly need their rest. Especially you, you need extra beauty rest.”  
“Now that you mention it, I am a little tired. You are too, don’t stay up too late.” He went upstairs and I cleaned up the sealskin garment and placed in a neat little pile by the chair Elaine claimed as hers. I heard the front door open and close and went into the hallway. There was Willin.  
“Long day?” I asked. He looked exhausted, and I probably did too.  
“I could ask you the same. I heard about the icing. And also, you need to know that the Emperor is coming in a month.”  
“I knew he was coming, but I didn’t know that soon. It really feels like Yaw is punishing me.”  
“I’m speeding up my transfer.” Smart kid that Willin.  
“I was going to ask you to. I thought we could have been safe for longer. But I guess it was inevitable. Come up to my study.” We both made our way upstairs. I opened up my study. One quick glance told me that Dorius hadn’t returned since earlier that day. I walked over and closed the window again.  
“Does Stiles know yet? And what about the twins? Are we going to tell them?” Typical Willin, thinking about the younger group.  
“No he doesn’t and not yet about the twins, but you are the one I’m concerned about. Dark hair aside, you are the one who would be recognized quickly. You are his spitting image.”  
“What about you Lyla, you have the most obvious physical indicator.”  
“I’ve passed it off for years after I mutilated it, I’ll be fine. You will probably be asked to return for the ball though.” Willin closed his eyes at that.  
“I know,” he sighed. “I just thought we would never have to deal with this.”  
“Me neither. But at least we get to see Uncle Tane again.”  
“Yeah, who doesn’t want to see their murderous uncle and his wife who I’m pretty sure isn’t even human?” When did we all become so sarcastic?


	6. Unlocking My Tragic Backstory

    I was born Morain Iwyane, the third daughter of the late Emperor Ryan. I had a two older sisters and four older brothers. Willin was born about five years after me as Rowin Iwyane and Stiles about a year and a half after him as Olie Iwyane. Stiles was born into the early stages of the plague. It had already claimed two of our older siblings and had infected our father when he was born. Our Mother, Empress Tonya couldn’t run a nation and take care of us, so she hired a nursemaid specifically for us youngest three. She and our eldest brother ran the country as our father succumbed to the disease. I don’t have many memories about that time except for something that I don’t even think actually happened. It was about six months after Stiles was born and Mother came into our nursery to rock him back to sleep.    
“Morain are you still awake?” She asked.   
“Yes.”  
“I want you to know that I love you I know that these past couple of months I haven’t been able to be here. You are my daughter and I love you.” And that was one of the last times I spoke to her. 

    After that, the plague took a turn for the worse. It slowly started to infect everyone in the castle, but our nursery seemed to be unaffected. Our nursemaid, Tricia, also fell ill but then she overcame the plague. She was one of the few. Within a year of my father falling ill, the castle was separated from society to try and keep the plague from spreading. It didn’t work. My father’s passing happened as reports came flooding in about the death toll. Its estimated that that plague wiped out over half of the population of Prim. My mother and older brother did their best even as they fell ill. They started the foundation of an organization that would become the Order. Their goal, to research the illness and find a cure. As some of the few healthy people left in the castle who were old enough to form sentences, Tricia and I were asked to pray for the success of a cure. I prayed night and day and was exhausted all the time. And eventually they found it. It was a miracle from Yaw. But it was too late for my family. The only heirs to the royal family were me and my brothers. I was seven, almost eight at the time. 

    My uncle and his wife were called in from their ambassador position abroad to come and be rulers in proxy as I came of age. I remember the day they came. I was holding Willin’s hand, he was prone to falling down, even though he was two years old. Tricia had Stiles in her arms, even back then he wanted to see everything the world had to offer and had a habit of getting lost. There were so few left in the palace. Tane and his wife, Irene, came out of the carriage and came up to us. Tane knelt down on one knee to be on the same level as me.   
“Princess, we are so happy you and your brothers made it,” he said. I replied back with a scripted answer I was forced to memorize.   
“Uncle Tane we are grateful to be alive and we hope to carry on our parents legacy.” Irene bent down to get a better look at me. Her gaze was piercing. She had ice blue eyes that sent shivers down my spine. Willin hid behind me so that he wouldn’t have to look at her.  
“It is truly fortunate you survived. Now there is no question about who will rule,” she said.   
“No there isn’t,” Tricia responded cooly. Even at my young age, I could sense the tension in the air. With that we continued on. We held a large funeral for my family. I don’t remember much about the process but I remember looking at the faces of my family. They were so stoic in their rest. It was nothing like they were in life. Father’s face which never once stopped smiling was now perfectly still. Mother was missing her usual air of curiosity, Stiles took after her thirst for knowledge. My brothers looked so serene, when during life they were always moving and jumping. My sisters looked sad, when they found the joy in everything.   
“This is wrong.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Tricia stopped and looked at me.   
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”  
“I said this is wrong,” my voice shook. “They shouldn’t look like this. They took away father’s smile. He isn’t smiling! WHERE IS HIS SMILE?” I screamed. Tricia scooped me up into a hug as the rest of the surviving nation watched their new crown princess dissolve into tears.   
“His smile will always be with you, in your heart.” Tricia’s consoling words couldn’t reach me.   
“I want him here!” I was so agitated that Willin and Stiles started to cry as well. Irene came over and hissed,  
“Get them out of here. They are making a scene.” And so we were whisked away from our own family’s funeral. 

    The next couple of months went by in a blur. It was eventually decided that staying in the palace was having negative effects on my health by a doctor. Our doctor suggested that we be taken out to the country for a bit in order to recover. And so our aunt and uncle sent us off to the country home with Tricia. Tricia was all too glad to get us out of there. She got nervous the last couple of months in the castle, and she had good reason too. Random accidents would happen to us. I almost got thrown by a mare who was considered the calmest mount in the entire kingdom, Willin accidentally ate something that made him so sick that he couldn’t eat for five days and Stiles wandered off and wound up dangling from the edge of the highest window in the castle. She had her work cut out trying to keep us safe. The royal guards were baffled too, they couldn’t understand it. We faced odd problems on the way to the country home too. A very poisonous snake was found in our tent, I almost fell into a random and sudden sinkhole and we lost all of our water. Even I was starting to get suspicious as a child. We finally made it to the country home when Tricia told me what she knew. She was suspicious of Irene and Tane. Irene was a seemingly nobody who popped up and happened to marry the brother of the Emperor of Prim. Tane was meant to be the heir, but my father was an illegitimate child who was found and brought up to be the ruler. Their father decided that the kingdom needed someone who wasn’t raised as a royal to be the emperor. Tricia found out that Tane never forgave him for that, and with the help of Irene somehow created the plague.   
“Wait, how can a person create the plague?” I asked.   
“I don’t know, but I do know that they did it somehow.”  
“How do I know you aren’t lying and trying to separate me from some of the only family I have left?”  
“What do I have to gain? A nursemaid with no children is jobless. And you have to have noticed how much in danger you three have been. I don’t think these have been accidents. Your mother made me promise to keep you safe. And I don’t think they want to keep you safe.”  
“So what do you want us to do? I don’t want to rule. I just want to keep my brothers safe. They are all I have left.”  
“I don’t know. But I will think of something.” And for some reason I believed her.   
    We started planning on what to do. I thought we could go live with the Orins at the bottom of the sea, Tricia thought that we could flee to Quin. We went back and forth for a while, and Tricia let me argue my point even though the Orins were just mythical folk. Then our opportunity came when we were going to the lake one day. Coming home, there was a large storm that appeared out of nowhere. We got lost and got caught in a sudden fire. We got out of the carriage as it started to burn and ran. We ran until we came to a farm. Tricia noticed there were pigs. Pigs are vicious creatures that are used for sport. They get thrown into a ring with other fierce animals and forced to fight. Sometimes they throw criminals in there as well. If the criminal remains unscathed, they get to live. If they don’t, the pigs can eat them. The pigs will eat everything, even the bones. Knowing this, Tricia let loose the pigs. And we kept running. When we got far enough away from the fire, we stopped at a little inn to rest. My brothers fell asleep as soon as we got into the room.  
“Tricia, how are we going to hide? Nobody really knows what the boys look like but…” I just held up my left hand. I was born with a deformed left hand. It was smaller than the right hand and I only had three fingers, but I still had five fingernails. It was like two of my fingers had two fingers in each. It was seen as a gift from Yaw and almost everyone in the kingdom knew about it.  
“We will cross that bridge when we get to Quin. Hopefully there you won’t be recognizable. Until then here.” Tricia grabbed a rag and wrapped my hand in it. “We will just say it’s been injured if anyone asks. Now sleep, we will be safe.” She was right. That night nothing happened. 

    We did however, wake up to the country in mourning, again. I would have thought that Tane didn’t care about us and I still don’t, but he put on a good show. He sent out the guards, consulted the priests, and even got out to the country home himself to look for us. When they found the pigs, called off the search for us. Tane then didn’t hesitate to declare us dead and eaten by the country’s favorite omnivorous animal. Then he sent out a proclamation about our funeral, after which there would be a small ceremony to make him the Emperor. We continued to make our way to Thexis, the closest port in Prim to Quin. We stayed in inns for as long as possible, until the money we had stashed away ran out. It was during that time we figured out who our new lives would be. We decided that the boys would become Willin and Stiles. Since they were so young, we didn’t do anything to their ages, they wouldn’t have been able to remember. Tricia and I decided to change our ages, I went from eight to nine and Tricia became younger and pretended be our mother. I became Lyla and she became Roslin. We eventually got to Thexis, but when we got there, Stiles fell ill. We had to get money to help him, and so Roslin became a cook at an inn. We lived in the inn and I found work as a runner for a ship. But it still wasn’t enough to get medicine and a trip to Quin. It was there that she met Guin, my boss.   
“Hello, you are new aren’t you?” He asked.   
“And who would like to know?” Roslin responded.  
“Just a poor merchant who was concerned about one of his employees. A little waif called Lyla. She says this is her home.”  
“Lyla is my daughter.”  
“Surely not. A woman as young as you wouldn’t have a daughter as old and mature as Lyla.”  
“She had to grow up quickly. Her father died a year ago and his family turned us out. I did my best, but she saw I needed help.”  
“I am sorry to hear that. But really, Lyla has great ideas. She could be much more than a runner. She is very young though, so I wanted to check with her family before I moved her up.” Roslin paused at that.   
“I’m sure Mr. Cwen that you know what a mother’s concerns would be about her daughter on a ship for an extended period of time.”  
“Oh I wasn’t going to take her on a trip yet. I was going to start her as my apprentice. She has a gift and I have no next of kin.”  
“And you don’t think you will find someone to settle down with and get a real heir.”  
“I think it will all work out.” And it did. 

     After that they started to court. We were skeptical about trusting him. We thought that he was working for my uncle and that he was going to turn us in. Roslin was dating him to find his motives. But it turned out that he originally came because he was concerned about my left hand. We just kept it in the bandages that whole time. We were more concerned with getting Stiles his medicine. Guin also knew the best doctor in Thexis, who also happened to owe him a favor. He was able to pull some strings and was able to get Stiles to see him. Stiles got better quickly. But we were still skeptical of Guin. It was difficult to trust anyone who wasn’t our family, but we wanted to. Especially Roslin. She was amazing, but even I could see she was getting strained by all of the stress she was under in trying to get us out of the country. And we liked Thexis. It was a city of potential and if we needed to, we could leave quickly. We were also tired of running, but we didn’t know if we could trust Guin.   
“What are we going to do Roslin?” I asked her one day.   
“I-I don’t know. I want to stay. I think we could be happy here.”  
“I think so, but how can we see if we trust Guin? I don’t want to lie to him anymore.”  
“The only thing I could think of would be to tell him the truth. Everyone still thinks we are dead remember?”  
“Does Tane really believe that though? The bodies were never found.” We paused at that. We needed a plan. “I think I’ve got it,” I said. “What if one day, my bandages slipped, and Guin saw my hand? If we see him running for the guards, we chop it off.”  
“Chop off your hand?” Roslin almost shrieked. “I will not let you do anything close to that!”   
“It’s a simple choice, my hand or our lives. If he gets the guards, we will have to do drastic measures. I will be screaming and you will claim he went crazy and chopped of my hand and started claiming I was the dead princess.” In the end, we didn’t need to tell him. He found out himself. Guin had always been smart and picked up on things that most people didn’t. One night he came to me and Roslin.

     He was very nervous. His hands were wringing.   
“Roslin, I-I really like you and Lyla, I love you and your brothers. However, I need to ask you something.” Roslin and I looked at each other.   
“What do you need to ask Guin?” Roslin asked.   
“Is Lyla the princess?” I dropped the knot I had been practicing on. Roslin’s eyes narrowed.   
“Why do you ask? Lyla is older than the princess and if you can’t tell, she is alive and not dead.”  
“But she only has three fingers on her left hand, and you guys showed up after the princess and the princes died looking for quick passage to Quin.”  Roslin looked at me.   
“When did you see her left hand Guin?”  
“Does it matter? All I know is that I care about her, and you and the boys and if you are in trouble I want to help. But I also know that many in this town are loyal to the old Emperor and would love to see the rightful heir on the throne.”  
“She isn’t-”  
“No Roslin, I am.” I piped up. “I am the princess and my brothers are the princes. What are you going to do about it Guin? Are you going to turn us in or will you be loyal and let us live? I don’t want the throne, I want to protect my family.” It was a long and tense moment. Then Guin kneeled.   
“I will not betray you or your family.” A sigh escaped Roslin.   
“Then I need you to do something.” I placed my left hand on the table. “I know I have five fingers, not three. You need to cut them apart so that nobody recognizes me by my hand again.”  
“NO!” Roslin cried. Guin looked shocked. He looked at me and then at Roslin. “You can’t do this Guin. She is a child and she has no idea what she is saying!”   
“No Roslin, she is the rightful ruler, she knows exactly what she is saying.”  
“Do it Guin. It’s the only way you can keep us safe. If you really love Roslin, you will do this.” I looked deep into his eyes. There was a resolve there and I knew, I knew he wouldn’t turn us in. And he picked up the knife.   
“Now I am not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination. This may not heal.”   
“We can go to a doctor later. Do it Guin.” And he did. I just remember pain but I didn’t cry out. It was the most painful thing, but I knew that it would help my brothers live, I really did. After I did that, Stiles recovered from his illness miraculously. My hand got worse, but it was fixed as best as possible by an Order doctor. We told him that it had been mauled by a shark, and he was skeptical, but he believed it. I now had a left hand that was mutilated, but had five fingers, instead of the three that I had been told I had been born with. 

     Time went on, Guin became a part of our small family and I learned how to be a merchant from him. Interestingly enough, as I became closer to Guin, my brothers and I started to look more like him. We lost the fair coloring of court and our skins and our hair became darker. Willin and Stiles especially started looking like him, with Stiles hair coming in curly and his eyes going from bright blue do a brown. We counted it as a blessing from Yaw, and a sign that we needed to stay in Thexis to begin our lives again. Guin and Roslin got me the best tutors as we expanded our company and about five years after they were married, they had the twins. Everything was fine and my family, the most precious thing to me was safe. And it became more than what it was. I love Elaine and Pytris as much as Willin and Stiles and will do anything to keep them safe as well. However, with Tane coming back into town, my priority is to keep Willin and Stiles away from him and his awful wife. No matter what pretense he put up when we “died” it would not be a pleasant family reunion if we were to reappear. 


	7. I Kind of Ignore the Future

     I slept terribly that night. I just kept thinking about what was going to happen. Should I try to win? How would it be determined if we were really trying? Why did Yaw want me to suffer? It was a long night. It felt like I was finally getting to sleep when a knock happened on my door. I groaned and turned over. “Come in.” Moyra entered.   
“Mistress, it’s breakfast time. You need to eat especially now.”  
“Does everyone know about the ice?” She nodded. “And now everyone also probably knows that I was ignorant.” Which is just what I need right now, I thought.  
“Oh it wasn’t that. Everyone tried to access their accounts before they knew. I think that Lord Barius had an agent at the bank to watch for each merchant and then sent the letter.”  
“So it was a test to see what we would do. I hope that this doesn’t ruin anybody’s business.” Moyra looked at me with a question on her face. “I don’t want companies to fail. They have the jobs and the incomes of the citizens of this city in their hands. They are the foundation on which we can build up our city.” It was the truth, even if some less competition would help me out.  
“That is wise insight Mistress.”  
“No it’s just common sense, which I’m not sure everyone has.” And with that I went down to breakfast. Elaine and Pytris were at the table already eating with a lot of gusto. “Where are mother and father?”  
“Fwath es-”  
“Swallow your food Elaine! That’s disgusting!” She closed her mouth and started chewing.  
“Father was summoned to an emergency council meeting and mother is at a special meeting for planning the ball,” Pytris chimed in.  
“Thank you at least one of you has manners.” I sat down across from them and started on my breakfast. Elaine swallowed her mouthful.  
“What are you going to do Lyla? Are you going to compete?”  
“I don’t think I have a choice. I don’t know how it will be guaranteed that I’m not sabotaging myself. And I don’t know what the other merchants will do.”  
“Maybe Lord Barius has some sort of magic from Yaw up his sleeve.”  
“Maybe Pytris, but I honestly don’t know. I don’t want to be a Lord.”  
“Yeah you would probably suck at it.” Stiles had finally made his way down and sat next to me. “I mean, you can’t even keep a secret like knowing about your father’s secret bath how could you keep the secrets of the people?”  
“At least I would have no chance of accidentally blowing them up with a misfired experiment.”  
“Yeah but you would be stuck doing even more paperwork than you do already and that’s boring,” Elaine said.  
“Well that is also an interesting point. I do not like paperwork. But alas, I have some more to do.”  
“Plus you need to tell the crew that you are broke and hope that none of them leave.”  
“Thank you for reminding me Stiles. Shouldn’t you be getting down to the docks? And you two, hurry up or you will be late to school.” 

     Elaine and Pytris gulped down the rest of their food and scrambled out the door. Stiles still didn’t move. “Don’t you have work?”  
“I’m taking the day off.” What gave him that right, I thought.  
“And what are you going to do?”  
“Follow you around.” I whipped around to look at him.  
“Did our parents put you up to this? I don’t need to be babysat. And I don’t need you to be a bodyguard.” He sighed in frustration and turned towards me.  
“No I know you can take care of yourself. And no they didn’t ask me to. I thought of this on my own. If you do get picked to be the Lord, what is going to happen to the company?” I hadn’t thought about that. “I’m not quitting my job at the docks, but I will take the occasional day off to study under you about how to run the business.”  
“Who said I wanted you to be my successor?”  
“You did but you were going to let me experiment more cause you thought it would make me a more rounded merchant.”  
“Cull! I did didn’t I? Well I guess you can follow me to the shop. I’m expecting another letter from the  
_Torrus_ today. And I guess you can go running around with the crew.”  
“What would I do with the crew? I already know my way around a ship pretty well.”  
“Well you could help with the inspection. I’m going to petition to get the  
__ Iris back today and if I do, I’ll leave you to inspect it.” His eyes lit up.   
“You would let me do that?”  
“Not by yourself of course, I’m not stupid. Things tend to get taken apart when you are left alone. I’ll leave you with Tib.”  
“Okay if it’s Tib and his husband comes. I think I want a tattoo and want to ask Soewin what he would recommend.”   
“Oh what has happened in order for you to get a tattoo? I didn’t get mine until I was in charge of the company.”

__

    Tattoos were a rite of passage in Thexis. You got a tattoo typically after your first real voyage or after your first successful trade or really whenever you felt like you had an important moment in your life. My first one was when I got control of the company from Guin, an anchor around a tree on my right shoulder blade. I have a couple others on my upper arms and on my back. Thexis also wasn’t big into the marriage bracelet trend. The wrists were reserved for marriage tattoos and for many people, it was traditional that they were the only tattoos visible outside of normal clothing. Because it was far more permanent, people weren’t as reckless when it came to getting married. The only people I knew who really got eloped were Tib and Soewin, but they were practically married before they got the tattoos. And I know that Soewin had them designed much earlier than when they got them inked.   
“I think I came up with a breakthrough last night before bed. I plan on getting it when I make my first successful modification to modern ship building.”  
“Oh and what will it be? Your face as a remembrance of your ego?”  
“I don’t know yet, that’s why I want to talk to Soewin.”  
"Alright, come on. I want to get to the shop before lunch.” And so we finished off our food and then went down to the market. It was a busy day. People were running around and shouting. I got stopped several times on the way to the shop with people asking me if I was one of the ones chosen by Lord Barius to compete for his title. I told them politely that I was, but I was in a hurry and couldn’t talk about it now. The only person I couldn’t shake was Kailee.  
“You thought I was going crazy but I was right!” She shouted in my face.  
“Yes, you were finally right. But you know what? So is a broken clock twice a day,” I said but she wasn’t paying attention to me. She was in her own victory rant.  
“I kept telling all of you that Lord Barius was never going to settle down and that he would have to choose a successor. And I was right that it would be one of our merchants! I have a gift!”  
“Sure you do. Kailee I have to get to the shop, so-”  
“Oh I’m coming with you. Ivin wanted me to pick up some of your crew for some extra work. The inn is going to be very busy once this starts. Did you know that people are coming to me with questions on who to bet for. Of course, we don’t even know who all is in the running yet and so I can’t tell them what I sense the right choice is. No, I said, we simply will have to wait. But I already have lots of people just waiting until we know.” Of course there would be a betting pool, and if Lord Barius was smart, he would make it official so he could tax the cull out of it.  
“So nobody knows who all is in the running? I would have thought that after the first person got the message about the ice, they would have set a guard to watch the bank to see who else got iced.” With an idea like that, Stiles would make a cunning business man, or a ruthless villain.  
“Aren’t you the smart one Stiles? I’m afraid someone tried but the bank wouldn’t let anybody in to spy on who got iced, so it’s just rumors right now. Perhaps Lord Barius will tell us.”  
“I know my father is an emergency council meeting right now, so we might have word after that,” I added. Oh no, I thought, that just added fuel to this fire.  
“Oh will you send word to the inn if you know? I want to know as soon as possible to help those who have come for me for help.”  
“And so you can make bank on their superstitions before anyone else. I know you Kailee, and this is a great opportunity for you.”  
“I’m just taking advantage of the situation. And what about you what are you going to do without your savings?” Kailee looked at me with pure fascination and I knew that whatever I said to her would get out so I had to be tactful.  
“I have a plan, and anybody who only put their savings in one place was not thinking about the future.”  
“That was...well said.” 

    I could tell that she wasn’t looking for something like that. Kailee wanted something to start gossip cause for some reason, people buy more alcohol when listening to gossip according to her. Personally, I think she just wanted more attention.   
“And here we are! You can talk to the crew just lounging about, I need to talk to Tib and Dorius. Stiles, please help Kailee.” And I left them with the rest of the crew. Tib and Dorius were inside.  
“Hello boys, how are you this fine morning?”  
“Oh Lyla! I am amazing and those scales are the best gift anyone has given me.” Tib was extra excited for some reason. Maybe he thought this whole competition was a good thing.  
“Glad to hear it Tib. Any news from the  _Torrus_ ?” Time to bring him back to Earth, I thought.   
“Yeah, a bird came in. Here is the letter.”  
“Thank you Dorius.” I took the letter and scanned it. “If they keep their wind, they will be here tonight, if they lose it, then they will be here tomorrow morning.”  
“Just in time for the drama!” Tib shouted. Dorius and I turned to look at him. “Oh, I meant the competition.”  
“We knew what you meant! Really Tib? Calling it drama?” I looked to Dorius for support.  
“I’m not the one that shut out everyone since yesterday evening. I’d say you are asking for drama,” Dorius said.  
“I will deal with you later, but unlike some people, I’m not going to let this dictate my life. I’m going to petition to get the  _Iris_ released from quarantine and Tib, you are taking Stiles to inspect it. Dorius, you and I will start buying new supplies. I want to send the _ Iris _ out to get more fabric from the capital in preparation for the ball.” I saw anticipation in Tib’s eyes, financial gain close.  
“I thought you said it wouldn’t dictate your life,” Tib jabbed.  
“Exactly, this business isn’t my life. It’s just business.” Dorius looked at me with a gleam in his eye. “This business is not my life. Now, Dorius, come with me to city hall. I already filed the paperwork, let’s see if we can get my ship back.” Dorius chuckled and went outside.  
“Yeah this isn’t your life at all,” Tib muttered. I gave him a pinch on his arm and we left. Stiles was still outside dealing with Kailee. Poor Stiles, she should have left already.  
“I’m going out, but I trust you have found the right crew?” I asked.  
“Oh yes, I was just trying to get Stiles to come to the inn and just see some of the girls we have working there now.” Of course, she was just trying to start gossip, I thought.  
“I need him focused Kailee, not distracted right now. Maybe before the ball I’ll send him over. Now if you are done, Stiles needs to go talk to Tib.” Stiles gave me a grateful look and hurried inside. Kailee sighed and left the shop. Dorius just put his head down. 

    “What have you gotten into Lyla?” He looked at me with amusement in his eyes.   
“Something way over my head, and that’s just with the regular things here in Thexis. I’m not even talking about the ice.”  
“Well what are your plans about the ice?” Dorius looked at me with anticipation. He was probably a little offended that I hadn’t shared my plans with him yet.  
“I have enough coin to get by. And I have favors to call in if it gets desperate. I’m not going to touch the company money, at all. You can’t let me.”  
“I don’t think I have to stop you. You do have some level of self discipline.”  
“Thanks for that. Don’t let my ego get too large either.”  
“Someone has to keep you in check if you do get to become the Lord.” That made me sigh. “I’m sorry Lyla, I didn’t mean to-”  
“No, I need to address this issue. It’s a part of my life now.”  
“How long do you think the ice will last?”  
“It depends on who is in the game and whatever Lord Barius is feeling apparently. I didn’t take him for one who has crazy tendencies, but with this, I don’t know.” We walked in silence for a bit. People were staring at me and whispering when they thought they were out of my sight. We got to city hall fairly quickly. “You know, I’ve been to city hall more times since I got back than I think in the past year.”  
“You didn’t go to city hall only three times Lyla, don’t be ridiculous. You just only went once a week instead of every day.”  
“I know that! It’s just crazy that I have been here every single day since I got back. The Order even thinks they can be friendly with me.”  
“I wouldn’t call what that judge did as friendly, but as...a gift. She basically warned you what would happen before it happened, we just didn’t know what to look for.”  
“You are right, I should have taken that comment more seriously. I should have prepared for something like this to happen. Now it’s time to try and get more gifts. I want to make a profit off of this even if I can’t access my own funds.”  
“Do you think they will just give you back the Iris with no questions asked?”  
“Oh no I expect a lot of questions. I have a list prepared with what answers they want.” We had finally reached city hall. I walked up to the desk for reclaiming ships. “Hello, my name is Lyla Cwen and I am here to inquire about my ship, _ Iris _ .” The person working the desk looked bored. He sighed and continued to work on his paperwork while he said,  
“Why didn’t you get your ship a while ago? The ships from last season have been cleared for plague for a long time.” The word that I came back early hadn’t reached everyone apparently.  
“Oh I just came in three days ago. I believe it’s a little sooner for the plague check, but considering what I know to be in my physician’s report, I think it would have cleared a little early.” The clerk raised his eyebrows in disbelief.  
“Alright, I will look for it. Don’t get your hopes up.”  
“My hopes? Up? Never.” Dorius nudged me. “I will be here when you find it, thank you.” He went back into the records room. The Order sure was...orderly.  
“You can’t really believe that this is going to help right? You are just trying to distract from the real problem,” Dorius said. He grabbed my arm and made me look at him. I rolled my eyes.  
“Yes, but I also believe that that is part of the test. I have to go about life as I normally would, and try not to go bankrupt, access the company funds or go crazy.”  
“Well you already failed the third one.” I pinched his arm and then the clerk came back.  
“It looks like your ship is cleared. You can give this to the dock master and you can make preparations, but remember to file any future trips with this desk.” He handed me some paperwork. That is how I will die, I thought, suffocation by paperwork from the Order.  
“Thanks, and I have the required paperwork for a new trip to the capital.” I handed him some paperwork. “Also since your office deals with ships and merchants, I was wondering if you knew the number of people involved in the Lord’s competition.” The clerk and Dorius jerked up to look at me. “What? I’m not asking for names, merely a number.” The clerk looked a little nervous.  
“I can’t disclose names Ms. Cwen, but I do know that there may be an announcement sent out soon with the information. Maybe today or not. I don’t know.”  
“Why doesn’t anyone know? Doesn’t that go against what the Order wants?”  
“What does the Order want?” Dorius asked.  
“Order.” He just rolled his eyes at that. “But more seriously, part of the reason the Order was established was to help the people and to provide transparency. So while it may be a major pain in the rear, I don’t think they would go against what they were founded for, right?” The clerk looked nervous.  
“I’m not high enough to know, but I do know that this is higher than the Order. Something has happened. At the highest level. There are rumors that the Emperor himself is interested.”  
“Of course he is. Thanks and let me know when that paperwork for a new voyage is approved.” I dragged Dorius out of city hall. I would have to be even more careful if even the clerk at the ship paperwork knew that the Emperor was involved with this. 


End file.
